Time for Miracles
by GlitterSharkEats
Summary: One of those stories where everything blows up, everyone dies, and there's lots of fire and chaos that nobody understands and screaming that obviously does not help.
1. Mad World

Omg, another story from me. But this one is gonna be good, promise! Or I hope so, at least. Whatever.

So, title thanks to the wonderful, amazing, super talented, super hot, better-then-you artist Adam Lambert. Time for Miracles is THE shit and I think all you pretty people should go watch it now. And lust over Sir Lambert and his extreme Hottie Hotshitness. Srsly he's like a drug. I luff him.

A warning to all you chillens. These are my OCs. If you don't like OCs, tough shit. I will apologize for the lack Zoidy awesomeness, and action in general in this chapter, but its the FIRST chapter. Things shall get better. And, I don't do flames. I like good critiques because I like getting better. Think I should improve on something? Hell, go for it. I don't bite. But flames make people feel bad, and making feel people is soooo high school. So put on your big girl panties before reading my story because I am not your babysitter. Bitch.

If your looking for some piece 'o crap love story/funny tale/blah, well, back button is right up there, buster. I write dramatically, I don't do cute stand-up humor. That's just dumb. Don't like this style of writing? Please direct yourself to the nearest toliet and stick your head in because I don't care.

Hope I didn't scare most of you off. So have fun!

**Summary-** Two kids and three Zoids are left alone after the untimely arrival of Zi's second mass extinction. Rogue, warped Zoids, crazed bandits, famine, disease, all sorts of nasties stress their friendship. In this new world, its eat or be eaten. Live or die.

**Music-** Time for Miracles ~ Adam Lambert - Fireflies ~ Owl City - Vanilla Twilight - Fireflies

---

When Dragon came home from a painfully exhausting day of cleaning two mile-high Gojulas, she didn't expect to see Adamaris sitting on the ratty couch, entirely too focused on whatever show happened to be playing on the T.V. Dragon frowned, her coat shedding from her body like a bulky extra skin. Coming home from a ten hour work day, and she didn't even get like, a high five or a thumbs up. Dragon seriously started to consider whom she decided to start her life over with. Adamaris was just a crappy roommate.

Dragon bustled into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator door and praying to all higher powers that some sort of edible food source lurked in the empty canyon. Her stomach yearned a pitiful moaning growl as the void space opened before her. Dragon sighed.

"Adamaris! There is no food." The teenager spat, slamming the door with more force then needed. She clambered about, ripping open cabinets until…..huzzah! _Crackers! _Dragon joyfully took then down, ripped the top off, and gleefully munched them as she walked back to the living room. Adamaris hadn't moved.

Dragon didn't enjoy being ignored. She frowned, picked out a cracker, and flung it at Adamaris' head. It bounced off his skull and he didn't even twitch. "Fuck is up with you?" Dragon growled, blue-green eyes alight with the start of rage. Finally, Adamaris looked over at her. His hazel eyes were wide, his body shaking, arms hugged tightly around a pillow. Dragon thought he was going through some sort of episode, which wouldn't have been the least bit strange. Adamaris reeked of abnormal.

"You have to see this." His voice, normally smooth and quiet, sounded cracked and raspy. Dragon's frown deepened as she sat beside him, leaning back against the couch as she watched.

Earth and Zi rotated around the same sun, were sisters in the same galaxy. Despite the millions and millions of miles that separated them, Earth and Zi shared a connection. The first true human beings, not Zoidians, to thrive on Zi came on ships from Earth. 90% of Zi's population could be traced back to Earth. The planets were one.

Dragon's mind ran blank, her heart stopped and her blank ceased to flow as the pandemonium erupted on screen like every destruction film ever created. One sentence quietly sulked in her brain, refusing to grow but refusing to leave; _this can't be real._

The Empire State Building quaked. Glass shattered, all at once, as the building suddenly doubled over, as if some massive giant swung at it with a baseball bat. The mighty American symbol crumbled, groaned in frenzied agony as it tipped, slowly, dramatically, onto it's side. Dust exploded upward, cascading high into the heavens as the building settled down to rest.

There was so much _screaming. _It was loud, a cacophony of wails and tearing metal and the loss of all hope. It blurred into one noise, one exhale of breath, Dragon forgot how to breathe. The air left the room around her way too fast; everything was spinning, what was happening?

Bridges gave way under unknown weight. Cars, with families trapped inside, smashed like toys into rivers. The ground split open, a massive, hungry maw of a dragon gaping wide to swallow everything it could. Fire, dust, screaming, _panic._ Houses and apartments crumbled, bricks and mortar falling like stars upon hapless people. Water boiled, evaporated, entire lakes vanishing in minutes. Airplanes, great, soaring metal birds, dropped from the sky and exploded in towering gouts of rippling flame. Bridges wavered, supports breaking and ten-inch long coils sprung and flailed like headless snakes.

Continents ripped. Great, fissuring cracks like torn open wounds raced across roads and oceans. Everything fell apart. The Earth shrieked, broke at the seams, caught fire and smoked and bled. Dust flew everywhere, a dirty veil to the actions within.

Dragon found her voice, rough and scratchy, not hers. "Atlas. What is this?" She spoke softly, praying this was only some movie, a sci-fi T.V. show, a work of fiction designed to scare, not predict. Adamaris looked at her, his hazel eyes filled with too many emotions at once.

"The End of the World."

---

"Earth had multiple massive extinctions. The meteor that killed the dinosaurs, several Ice Ages……It was bound to happen again. The Mayans predicted that the world would end in the year 2012. And look at that, it did." Adamaris rambled as he paced, feet beating a steady tattoo on the worn carpet.

Dragon looked at her fingers. Earth and Zi had such different years. "We had a mass extinction." She muttered. The T.V. was paused, stopped on an image of The Eiffel Tower snapping in two. Dragon wished there was some way to turn back time. Having learned that Earth had been forever destroyed was not a good way to end your day. The feeling struck beyond surreal, and Dragon couldn't stop her body shaking.

The show had only been a recording. Earth was long gone. Dragon asked how they got the footage. Adamaris, always such a fucking genius, explained how the scientists of Earth knew it was going to happen. They carted off as many people as possible, brought them back to Zi, and left machines behind to document the chaos. Obviously, the camera machines were destroyed, but the data was good.

"Why didn't everybody leave?" Dragon questioned. She could still see the panicked faces, the tears streaming, the praying to the sky above. Adamaris shrugged, his shoulders shaking.

"I don't know."

Dragon hoped it was a dream, a mirage, a cruel prank, but it wasn't. She walked into Adamaris' art studio and leaned on the big window's balcony, tilting her head until the expanse of the city met her gaze. A trio of Redlers streaked across the sky, leaving engine fuel in their wake. Dark Horns and Iron Kongs, Konig Wolves and Blade Ligers, patrolled the city's gates. The sun dipped lower toward the horizon, already on it's way to let the moons have the night. Dragon pulled herself up on the window ledge and watched.

_I will go to bed. I will wake up, and this will all be a nightmare._

---

Something was buzzing in Dragon's pocket and she didn't like it. Muffling a groan, Dragon rolled over to try and get the buzzing to _stop._

She fell off the window ledge.

The wooden floor, dusty and covered with canvas, failed to soften the blow. Dragon did let out a groan this time, her limbs flailing miserably as she tried in vain to figure out who she was, where she had fallen asleep, and why someone thought it would be a great idea to _call_ her. She patted her pockets, wincing at the movement, and successfully pulled out her cell phone.

"Dragon, what's up?" She muttered, stifling a yawn.

"You are late."

Cold dread, with a hard blow of realization, hit Dragon with all the force of a Genosaurer's Charged Particle Cannon. The pilot lifted her head, found herself greeted with the bright sunlight, the sound of bird chirping cheerfully, the bustling sounds of midday traffic…..

"Ra! I'm sorry, Myde. I slept late, 'cause I didn't fall asleep until early and…." Dragon rambled, struggling to her feet. "I'm sorry, my roommate was supposed to wake me up. Fuck, he is such a jerk. I'm _sorry_, Myde." Dragon continued, bumbling out of the studio and grabbing her shoes despite the fact she was still in clothes from yesterday.

_I am a mess._

"I don't care. Get your butt here, we're busy!" Myde boomed on the other end. Dragon winced. Adamaris was nowhere in sight; he had already left to open his coffee shop. The pilot tried to repress the feeling of anger rising in her throat, but it came anyway. Adamaris was so gonna get his ass kicked.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Make it five."

Dragon ran out the door, hair sticking up in ten different directions, clothes rumpled and wrinkly. Age 18, already in a steady job, already having to provide even though she was a _kid._ Everything felt so serious, Earth may have been long gone but it was Zi who had first been broken.

_We can't be that busy._

"Will do."

She didn't notice the note that gently fluttered to the floor in her wake.

---

Murasame Ligers had too many parts, too many pointy bits, were way too common, and sucked to fix. Dragon peered down at the tricky inner wiring and frowned, lost in all the bright colors and shiny wire coatings. She cracked her knuckles and bent lower, grabbing a handful of circuits and disconnecting them.

"So, you heard about Earth? Awful, horrible tragedy."

Dragon pulled her head out of the Liger's wires, her face and multi-colored hair already streaked with slick oil.

"Can't say they didn't deserve it. Look at the way they treated that planet. Not to mention all those damn wars."

Dragon glanced over the Liger's side. Two customers stood far below, immersed in chatter. Dragon instantly remembered, and the resulting feeling of nausea nearly caused her to topple over. The violent images played in her mind, a video with no stop button. Her hand clutched at a piece of armor, fingers trying to dig into the smooth metal.

_Earth. 2012._

"I heard only about two billion people were saved."

"Darn shame. All those poor souls."

The men walked away, back to their Zoids. Dragon sat, alone and sick, on the Murasame Liger. Her throat ran dry, and her tongue filled up her mouth. The drips of water that fell on the Liger's body didn't quite connect with Dragon until _oh_.

---

"You didn't wake me up."

Adamaris smiled brightly at a customer, a pretty young woman with an expensive jacket, and handed her a tall cup of steaming coffee. "There you go, ma'am! Have a good one!" He chirped, all white teeth and dazzling eyes. The woman smiled and dumped her change in the tip jar before walking out. Adamaris turned to Dragon, raising a brow.

"I left you a note!" He protested. "Didn't you see it?" Adamaris grabbed a rag from behind him and started wiping crumbs from the counter. Aside from a giggling couple and a student with his laptop, the café was empty. Dragon loved this place, mainly because of the homeliness and the soft lighting, shelves housing goodies and coffees. The café smelled like home, like things safe and warm, and despite the vicious mood she was in, Dragon felt a tranquil blanket settle over her.

Dragon pulled a napkin from the dispenser and tried to wipe the oil from her hands. But like blood and regret, guilt and tears, it stained. "Obviously not." She retorted without much bite.

"I didn't want to wake you. You looked so tired and I thought Myde would have closed because of….." Adamaris ducked his head, bangs falling to cover his eyes. Dragon huffed, threw the napkin away.

"Never assume," Her gaze switched to the menu. So many coffees, such a short break. Despite her four months living with Adamaris, she had not yet tried every drink Konig Coffee offered. "Mmh. I have six minutes left before I have to run back to Myde's." She looked back at Adamaris, who had gone to poke at the tip jar. Adamaris was such a sweet, gentle soul, and it made Dragon angry to no end when customers didn't tip. "Surprise me?"

"Course." Adamaris muttered, and Dragon felt another stab of guilt. She had lost friends before. Lost them to monsters and men and her own wicked heart. Not this time, though, she couldn't lose Atlas. This was the boy who, four months ago, gave one look at Dragon's torn and ratty look, her Matrix Dragon and Blade Liger, and smiled.

_I just need to clear my head. I can pay rent. _

Those hazel eyes gleamed with merriment. _You can stay here as long as you want. _

"Here you go. Surprise," Adamaris placed a cup filled to the brim in front of Dragon, a chocolate muffin beside it. Dragon smiled, childish, and pulled on her wallet. Adamaris made a noise, a crossbreed between a huff and a scoff. "Every time! You go free, you hard worker you." He grinned.

He never took her money. Dragon rolled her eyes, pulled out a few coins and dumped them in the tip jar. "I think you work just as hard as I do."

She grabbed her coffee and muffin, and left.

---

Myde closed at seven o'clock sharp. Dragon stifled a yawn, stretched her tired bones, and plodded toward the Zoid Garage. Myde's beat-up, more-rusty-then-not Gunblaster turned a beady red eye toward Dragon. He rumbled out a guttural reptile moan in hello.

In comparison, Flare stood out like a lost gem, a prized piece of metal and circuitry. The symbolic icon of Zi, Flare lowered his regal white head toward his mistress, black fangs and black cockpit glass shined to perfection. The scarlet red inner structure, the golden paw cuffs and trim, the off white armor and piercing black blades brought a smile to Dragon's face. But then she would always remember, and the smile would vanish.

The cockpit opened, and Dragon hopped inside. Myde always closed last, preferring to do the routine check-up himself rather then trust the kids he hired. Flare lifted his powerful Blade Liger head, gave a quick, feline shake, and tromped out the door and into the crisp Zi evening.

Normally, Dragon would head home, shower, grab a bite to eat, and fall asleep. Konig Coffee didn't close until eight; Adamaris usually hit up a club, and wouldn't be home until the wee hours of the morning. Their schedules were off; confused, jumbling, -sometimes they would go twelve hours without seeing each other- but that was the way it worked. Unless Adamaris called, whining about getting kicked out of a club, Dragon didn't see him until she left for work.

Not tonight. Flare came to a halt outside Konig Coffee, and Dragon bumbled out of his cockpit in the way that only dwellers of this planet could. A scar on her leg, dulled by years of healing, sent only a weak pulse of pain through her nerves.

"Wait here."

The Blade Liger tilted his head, unresponsive.

The café was empty, silent, and Dragon relaxed as the scent of brewing coffee and tasty pastries floated to her in welcome. "Ra, I could just live here." She murmured, absent mindingly picking up a stray napkin and tossing it in the garbage can. From the back room, a tiny area of space housing a chair, table, T.V., and mini fridge, Adamaris poked his head out and smiled at Dragon with such joy, it was as if he hadn't seen her in years.

"I thought I heard you! I'll close early tonight, alright?" He started to bustle around, turning off coffee machines and switching off lights. Dragon rocked back on her heels.

"Want me to help?"

"Nah, I got it," Adamaris snatched the tip jar, turned it upside down, the contents slipping over the counter like a precious waterfall. "Not bad, tonight. How was the garage?"

Dragon shrugged as she fell into a chair. "Slow. I guess everyone is all paranoid and freaked out about the Earth."

"Well, it's kinda a big deal. A whole planet _blew up._ How can that even happen?" Adamaris huffed, his bangs flying upward before settling back over his eyes.

"At least it wasn't Zi."

The last coin slid over the counter, Adamaris' long fingers guiding it. "40 Gallos," He whispered. His head tilted upward, and even in near-darkness, Dragon saw the fierce drive of those clean hazel eyes. "I bet those 2 billion people who were saved wish it happened here, rather then there."

Dragon pursed her lips and thought of Flare, waiting patiently outside for them to come out. "Um, Flare's outside but if you wanted to go out…." Dragon trailed off, an open invitation, no period needed. Adamaris swooped the money into his pocket and locked the register before giving the store a once-over.

"Most places are closed because of the whole Earth thing, so we can head back home." He answered. Dragon didn't why, didn't know how it happened, but there was suddenly that _rift_ between them. She hated it. Sullen, Dragon walked out of the store, waited for Adamaris to lock it, and Flare took them home.

---

It happened at around 2:30 in the morning. Dragon stirred, fumbled in her sheets, pressed her cheek tighter against her pillow and willed the _noise_ to go away. But it didn't, no matter how hard Dragon pushed it away, no matter how high she hiked the covers over her head. Something was dying.

A sort of moan, a stifling cry, a suppressed sob and the whimper of agonizing pain. The true force of the noise jolted Dragon out of her drowsy stupor, that sort of in-between land of sleep and wakefulness. She sat upright, clutching her blanket to her in a toddler way, pointed ears turned toward the noise. It came again, softer, but so full of burden and misery that it made her heart ache.

It took her a total of five seconds to realize the noise was in the apartment.

"Atlas?" She called, voice cracked with sleep. She tumbled out of bed, legs shaky and body craned to the side. She bumped into a wall –it was so dark-, her fingers stretched to their limits as she felt along the walls. The sound came again, this time softer but still miserable. Dragon's heart thudded in her chest, ten times too loud as she pushed the door open to Adamaris' room.

He was on his side, stretched out, blankets a tangled mess among long, pale legs. Even from here, Dragon could see the dark puddles of sweat that covered his features, his back and his chest and his throat and the linens themselves. Adamaris twisted around again, this time onto his back, arched so high upward Dragon worried he might break himself in half…then he fell, a soft _thump_! Onto the mattress. Dragon watched his eyelids flutter, his tongue flicker out over his lips, his teeth gnashing together to bite and slice into said muscle. He groaned again; it sounded like someone had sliced him open and started beating his organs with a billy club.

"Atlas!" Dragon yelled, -it sounded loud, sharp, out of place so early in the morning- and fumbled her way onto the bed. The hazel eyes flicked to her, dull and glazed over. Adamaris shook and twitched when she gently laid a hand on his forehead. "Adamaris, what's wrong?"

He groaned again, squeezed his eyes shut. "Its-its gonna happen here. S-soon," The words hissed out from between his chattering teeth, and Dragon felt herself go cold, her brain struggling to piece together what was happening. Adamaris whined, a single high note that bled from deepest regions of his throat. He lifted his head, a struggle, and let it flop back down on the pillow. "I can feel it, feel it c-coming. Whatever ended Earth is going to e-end _us._"

Dragon willed herself to calm down. "Relax Atlas, you only had a nightmare." She said softly. Nothing prepared her for what happened next. Adamaris' hand flung forward, grabbed Dragon by the neck and pulled her forward. She struggled to free himself, choking and yelping as her fingers scratched marks down his sides. The lackluster glaze of his eyes was gone, replaced by a glowing hazel fire.

"This nightmare is going to be _real._" He snarled.

Then it was over. Adamaris' hand fell away, and he let out a choked, churning, bellyache of noise as he curled up onto his side, arms hugging his stomach. Dragon winced, sat back on her knees and rubbed her throat. She could feel the imprints of Adamaris' fingers around her jugular, tender even after mere seconds.

Coming from the harsh, degenerate lands of cold and icy Nyx, Dragon didn't _do_ emotional comforting and the like. Her Base members were tough enough to fix problems themselves, and nobody acted touchy-feely. Dragon knew it was depressing and pathetic; age 18 and she hated hugs and talking about _feelings._ Mushy stuff, useless junk that separated the pilots from the regulars.

And yet. This was Adamaris, exactly the sort of touchy-feely that Dragon wasn't use to. She still jumped whenever he glided around her, a hand on her lower back, his chin propped up on her shoulder, his legs kicked up over her's. Slowly, she regained what the word touch meant.

"Hey, buddy," She whispered, quietly, afraid that too loud a noise would break him. Her hand reached out and landed down on his shoulder, slick with sweat and shivering with cold. Adamaris made a noise she couldn't describe, but his fingers flexed in the blankets as his eyes creaked open. Dragon shook his shoulder a little. "You awake?"

Adamaris groaned and buried his face in his arms. "Go 'way." He mumbled. Dragon frowned, prodded his shoulder with a bit more vigor.

"No. Wake up," Her hand moved over to grasp a tiny bit of black hair, and she tugged. "Tell me more about what you were talking about." She pulled a little harder. Adamaris huffed in response, dragging his head below the blankets and refusing to answer. Defeated, Dragon rocked back on her knees and stared at the lump that was her friend.

Something freaked him out. Something was going to happen. Dragon looked out the window, at the luminescent orbs that were Zi's twin moons. Suspended in animation, they hung like guardians over the planet.

"Fine. I'll bug you in the morning." Dragon promised. She slipped off the bed, and using the walls as her guides, she made it back to her room. But she didn't fall asleep, instead staring at her ceiling and wondering about those lost souls who died when Earth did.

Where did they go?

---

Dragon threw herself on Adamaris as if she were ten years younger and two feet shorter. "We need to talk." Her voice was deadly serious, monotone. She ran her thumb across his neck, where she knew he was ticklish. Adamaris swallowed a chuckle, which resulted in a funny choked/laughing noise bubbling up from his throat.

"Knock it off!" He swatted her hand away, eyelids cracking open. Dragon leaned back against the wall as Adamaris sat up and stretched, his bones cracking from the movement. Just waking up, he looked ridiculously adorable. Hair tousled and messy from his fits, eyes still a little closed, but a smile so bright and cheerful, as if it had never gone away. "What's up?"

Dragon edged a little closer. "You….don't remember last night?" She started cautiously. Adamaris tilted his head, slight wave of confusion masking his features. "You were like, spazzing out. Talking about Zi going through what Earth did." Dragon rubbed her throat, the faint outlines of fingers still etched into the skin.

Adamaris frowned, such a rare, strange sight on him, like a Blade Liger without blades or a Matrix Dragon without wings. "I think I would have remembered that if it happened." He argued. Dragon felt herself slump, exhausted.

"It did happen."

"Mm, maybe _you_ had the nightmare, babe," He flashed a quick smile, then pushed playfully at Dragon's side. "Now get out so I can get dressed."

Dragon made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes, but did as she was told. The apartment felt chilly this morning, and the teen dug her hands deeper into the vast pockets of her sweatpants as she dragged herself to the kitchen. Maybe some food had magically appeared. An apple, an egg, hopefully a spare piece of bread. Dragon opened the fridge and her heart sank at the horribly empty sight before her. Adamaris' words, screaming, then quiet, frightened, replayed like a broken record in her head.

_This nightmare is going to be _real.

Dragon pulled out a water bottle and unscrewed the cap. She glanced over to the side, out the wide expanse of window that blessed their kitchen. She could see the city, the Zoids, the sky and clouds forever.

She could also see something else.

Dragon frowned, walked closer and leaned against the sink. Up in the sky, a tiny dot, growing closer. "What the…." Dragon strained to make out what the object was. Then it hit her. Hit her like a brick, a Genosaurer's clawed foot, the news of her best friend's death, the news of her best friend moving on.

Only this hit was going to be _real._

"Adamaris!" Dragon cried, scrambling away from the window mere seconds before the meteor, a God in itself, an unholy mass of rock, fire and limitless chaos, impacted with the city and set everything aglow in the brightest, purest white they had ever, ever seen.

---

Okay its short and I am sorry. Hopefully I kept your attention? But hey, mindless fire and doom and gloom in the next chapter! Hope yer excited.

And yeah, I know I make grammar mistakes, mainly misplacing words like "it", "is", things spellcheck doesn't catch. But I'm trying, hopefully improving. I'm not so interested in grammar as I am writing in general. Yah.

Next chappie up whenever. I gots school, peeps!


	2. This City So Pretty

Yay, next chapter! And no reviews. Aw ;; Is it because I sounded kinda pissy last chapter? Am sorry about that; I got up on the wrong side of the bed I guess. xD

Anyway, apologies for the slow start of this story but I swear it gets better in the next. At least we have a battle today, right? More Zoids will pop up later on. Believe me on this, I try very hard not to disappoint. And uh, no lie, but its gets kinda ranuchy in the middle. Read that R rating, kids!

Enjoy! :3

**Music-** Time For Miracles/For Your Entertainment ~ Adam Lambert - Vanilla Twilight/Fireflies/If my Heart were a House ~ Owl City

---

It wasn't real.

In the mass hysteria, _of course _Dragon had forgotten about the film shoot. This busy, bustling city of millions happened to be the perfect place to shoot the meteor colliding with Zi. Dragon, frowning with her arms crossed over the lower half of her face, watched in total and complete misery as the fake meteor, adorned with brilliant flashing lights, lifted upward with help from the Great Whale King.

"I can't believe they're still going to do this movie."

Adamaris shrugged. "The film industry stops for no man. Make that nothing. Film industry stops for nothing."

Adamaris came over, grinning, and ruffled Dragon's hair. "Are you feeling okay? You've been acting kinda funny," He asked, both concern and humor layering his words. Dragon sighed, deflated a bit, and Adamaris chuckled. "Poor buddy. Are you nervous?"

Dragon jerked up, her stare harsh. "No! I've battled for like, years. I totally know what I'm doing." She said, louder then she intended too. But Adamaris only blinked, cocking his head to the side as he followed his arms.

"Uh-huh. But you haven't battled recently." He pointed out.

One point for Adamaris. Dragon sank back into the chair, watching little people below point to the meteor, the gaggle of worker's Zoids, the beautiful actors. It would be so easy, acting. Just recite a bunch of lines, move in the right way, and die when needed. Piloting, by comparison, was ridiculously difficult, stressful, and such an amazing amount of skill that sometimes Dragon wanted to curl up in the fetal position and become like, a monk or anti-pilot thing like Adamaris.

"Maybe I'll try out for acting instead." Dragon mused. Adamaris laughed behind her. She thought he had left, but Adamaris had a funny ability to….never really leave.

"Sweetheart, you already are."

He patted her shoulder, and bounced out of the room to take a shower or paint or make the clouds go away, and left Dragon to stew with her own perpetual rain cloud storming over her head.

---

Okay. You are fierce. You are powerful. You are the most amazing fucking pilot this shit-hole city has ever seen. You are going to win.

Nervous felt too weak a word to describe the _panic_ Dragon had trapped herself in. She hadn't battled in months, her skills were sorely lacking, and she didn't even know who she had to fight! The pilot ran a hand through her hair, pacing a rut in the stadium floor.

Flare tilted his head, rumbled a question. Dragon ignored him. _As long as it's not some Deadborder or something. Or a Genobreaker! The Hell am I going to do if a fight a Geno Maxis? No, this is only a Beta level battle. I'll be fine. _Dragon padded back and forth, back and forth; a broken clock, a worried metronome.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Dragon nearly yelped and dove behind Flare's paw. Thank Eve she didn't, because _people were watching._ Fumbling, Dragon pulled her phone from the abyss of her jeans and flipped it open.

Good luck! B in the stands watching u :)

Dragon smiled. Even Adamaris' texts radiated innocence and cuteness. Even if this particular one did sound a little a Creeper.

_Thx Atlas. Lol u sound like a creep!_

She turned her phone off; the frequencies could sometimes mess up those of the Zoids. Dragon glanced up, a tiny grin on her face as Flare growled in readiness, his black nails to the point of tearing up the solid concrete floor. "So, this is my first time battling with you. Let's try to not get each other killed, okay?" Dragon asked. Flare's answer came in the bowing of his head, canopy popping open with a pressurized hiss.

The intercom above announced her name. Dragon inhaled, mentally pulled herself together, and clambered into the cockpit.

I am going to win.

---

The roar of the crowd penetrated even the thick safety of the canopy glass. Flare stood there, a few feet out from his door entrance, and took it all in. The cheering, the jeering, the rambunctious spectators screaming and shouting, all so much of it. The Blade Liger growled, lifting his regal head to strike an outstanding pose. Camera flashes blazed from every direction.

Dragon had to admit, she did like this. Almost like being famous, not quite, with most of the action being directed at the Zoids and not so much on the pilots. Dragon didn't mind, she only needed the money.

"Coming in from the left, Dragon Koradaku and her Blade Liger!" The announcer blared over the intercom system. Dragon smiled as Flare dipped his head.

"And from the right corner, Stacy Lewis and her Sword Wolf!"

Well. This would be interesting. Two melee Zoids pitted against each other. Not a bad move; more betting equaled more money. Flare snarled, crouched low and wiggled his behind as the crimson Wolf strutted out of the door, head held high.

The blades mounted on it's back looked heavy, huge, machetes compared to Flare's switchblades. And both Zoid and pilot knew it; Stacy didn't seem to be in a hurry as the canine mecha slowly prowled forward.

"Ready, fight!"

Flare charged. The whir and rumble of machinery drowned out the immense cheering as the Liger made a beeline straight for his prey. The blades, their paint a pure onyx, flipped down and out. Dragon quickly pressed a button on the blade pulleys and felt the rush of energy as it rushed down to ignite the sharp weapons.

The Wolf looked bored. Even with an angry multi-ton cat speeding toward it with all the fury of a rampaging Dibison, it barely moved. Dragon's brain warned her of a trap. She ignored it. The distance closed, she could see the finer details of the Wolf's form; the intricate play of circuits showing like a web of veins, the gears and caps-

"Too slow."

With endless grace and practice, the canine leaped out of the way. Dragon yelled in surprise, rammed the controls left, and nearly shredded her own blade on the high concrete wall. Flare eased to a stop, energy dying from his blades. Stacy's high laughter floated through the comm-link, and Dragon blushed with heated embarrassment.

"Really!" She sounded like a mouse that had sucked up four balloons worth of helium. "Such a rookie mistake!" The Sword Wolf turned and crouched, raised her rear end in the air and wiggled her tail. "You must be capable of so much better then that!"

Dragon gritted her teeth. _C'mon, pull it together. You got this, you got this, you got-_ "Ah!" Reaction kicked in, and Dragon barely saved herself from a nasty wound. The Sword Wolf scoffed, unimpressed as smoke trailed from it's leg cannons. Flare sidestepped from the scorch marks on the ground as the crowd's noise drifted more toward jeering.

Apparently there hadn't been enough of a Gore Fest in the battle's first thirty seconds.

Dragon flipped the blades back up. The triple barreled shock cannon vibrated to life as Flare ran toward the Wolf. The canine leered, her optics blazing with humor as she met the charge with her own.

Blasts and lasers exploded forth. Chips of armor fell from Flare's frame like solid raindrops. Chunks of crimson, like watery blood, thudded from the Sword Wolf's form. Snarling, growling, shrieking, the two Zoids met each other in a fury of claws and teeth. Bullets and guns fell by the wayside as the metal animals resorted to tooth and nail combat. This is what separated rookies from veterans. Firing bullets took no skill, but really getting down and dirty was an art form to be mastered. Flare, so much bigger and heavier then the Sword Wolf, shoved his snout forward, baring black teeth as his claws buzzed with laser energy. The canine responded in kind, her own silver nails erupting with a pure yellow glow.

Then Dragon remembered. _The Blades._

The massive Hack Sword, like a guillotine, the veil of death, came up and over, the rising and setting of the sun. Slow, painfully slow, as if time ceased to exist as the blade dropped in perfect harmony with the Wolf's growing sadistic grin. Desperate, Dragon tugged the controls backward. But she couldn't move, her Zoid trapped by those pining claws.

Flare opened fire.

The blade connected with his shoulder, driving deep into metal flesh and wiry vein circuits. The Liger screeched, fumbled backwards, his lame leg useless, nearly severed in two. But the Sword Wolf, her blade wedged deep into Flare's limb, could not escape. She whined and howled, cried to the sky as Dragon pumped her full of shock cannon blasts. Stacy's curses hung above them, loud and frantic as the Wolf's chest and front legs creaked and broke from the blows.

They wrenched apart. Loud, tearing, the screech of rip of metal, the viscous drip of silvery Zoid blood puddling below them. Flare limped; sagged on his hurt leg as the Sword Wolf bared her chipped teeth, chest sparking like fireworks.

Blades flipped down, roared with energy. Flare bellowed, jaws wide as he leaped, blades turned forward. The Sword Wolf jumped, Hack Swords out and ready. This is what Dragon loved, she knew this. She knew how to battle. She lived for _this_.

Flare's boosters popped open. Split second later, they ignited with white flames and spun to the left. The Sword Wolf, so close, opened her maw to shriek in confusion as Flare suddenly bolted away, propelled by the sheer force of power from his boosters. The Liger thudded, all four paws connecting with the concrete as the boosters died down.

Time moved so slow. Dragon perfected this move. This is what caused her to win. All the time. In a past life. A life that no longer existed. A life she no longer deserved. The life she no longer needed.

Flare hopped forward, boosters swinging into their proper position and cranking on high again. Dragon felt the rush of gravity tear into her body as the mecha soared forth, his blades slicing neatly into the Wolf's metal body. Legs and metal guys separated with ungodly ease, and the canine let out an agonized howl as she splattered onto the floor, minus four legs.

Flare landed and spun, his near amputated leg dragging along. The boosters were killed; his blades returned to his back, and in true Blade Liger fashion, the Zoid threw his head back and roared out a triumphant roar that all but drowned out the cheering screams of the crowd.

Dragon smiled down at the wrecked Sword Wolf.

I win.

---

There was that one battle I couldn't win.

Dragon climbed down Flare's leg; immensely grateful he would be repaired free of charge. The pilot sighed, sitting down on a nearby create to watch the workers scuttle about, shouting instructions to each other as they bumbled onto lifts, carrying welding torches and other tools to fix Flare's leg.

Blade Ligers. I wonder why Flare doesn't speak.

The feline looked as stoic and unresponsive as ever. Dragon sighed.

_What would he say?_

"You won!"

Getting hugged by Adamaris was not unlike getting tackled by a very happy Organoid. Dragon squalled, flailed her arms as the much bigger, not-much-heavier-but-still-he's-a-guy Adamaris throttled her into a bursting bear hug. Dragon gasped for air.

"Oh my Eve, I totally thought you were done for when Flare nearly lost his leg!" Adamaris laughed, all giddy because _they had money._ 10,000 Gallos worth to be exact. Not a staggering amount, but more then enough for groceries and rent. Dragon awkwardly patted his back.

"You thought I was going to lose?" Dragon asked in mock horror.

Adamaris giggled, rolled off of her and sprawled on the next crate over. Dragon had been going for angry, but his smile was infectious and Dragon couldn't help but beam back at him.

"No, of course not! But Flare's leg…." He trailed off, lifting one hand to gesture vaguely in Flare's direction. "How are we getting home?" He rambled on, totally changing the subject in the way only he could. Dragon looked down at her hands, fidgeting against the material of her ridiculous piloting suit. Why did a pilot need to wear a colorful one-piece leotard.

"Uh," Dragon began. Flare's repairs wouldn't be done for a few hours so….

"No problem!" Adamaris laughed, getting to his feet. "I had to get here somehow, right? I brought Romeo!" He bounced over to Flare, patted his good leg, then happy jumped all the way out the door.

Dragon faceplamed.

---

Adamaris' piloting skills were about as choppy as an out of whack food processor. Painting, being a good friend, and making some seriously legit coffees were all his virtues, but his piloting skills could be considered a crime. Dragon hugged the winning check to her chest, trying to keep still as Romeo skipped along the road.

Romeo the Shadow Fox. A nice Zoid, a loyal one at that who kept calm and didn't mind his pilot's lack of piloting abilities. Not that Adamaris should even be called a pilot. A guy with three Zoids, that was his title.

The Fox came to a rickety halt outside the apartment. Adamaris eagerly leaped out, slide down the canine's leg, and promptly vanished inside. Dragon rolled her eyes, taking her time in pulling off the seatbelt, reaching over to stroke the Fox's nose, then following in her friend's footsteps.

Adamaris grinned at her from over the kitchen counter. His long body curved perfectly over the granite lip, his chin propped up by his palm. "10,000 Gallos. Think of what we could buy." He purred, hazel eyes sparkling with such an intensity that it made Dragon clutch the check all the tighter.

"No way bitch, I'm holding onto this," Dragon grumbled. Adamaris pouted. "I'm gonna hide it until I can hit up the bank tomorrow." She continued. Plenty of awesome hiding places lurked in her room, like the broken floorboard under her dresser. Perfect. Adamaris groaned and started rifling through cabinets.

"Fine. I'm making pasta for dinner." He said, voice just a trifle hurt.

Like they ever ate anything but cheap-o pasta and sauce from a can. Dragon gazed down at the check with the same love and affection as a mother seeing her baby for the first time.

_First thing I'm doing tomorrow is buying steak and Vodka._ Dragon promised herself.

---

Dragon felt it in the air, a disturbance in her dreams. Like all teenagers who decided to be cool and stay up until a whooping late time of 12:30, if Dragon hated one thing, it had to be getting jostled out of an amazing sleep. Whatever had woken her up would pay. With their life.

Call it a hunch, or just being wary, but once the sleep and haze cleared from Dragon's eyes she looked over at the floorboard beneath her dresser. The split wood, lifted half a centimeter from the rest of the floor, had not been that way when Dragon left it.

Fuck.

After falling off her bed and scuttling over on her belly, Dragon pried up the wood and frantically dug inside. Nothing. Empty. A veil of anger washed over Dragon's eyes; seeing red. How dare he. How _dare_ he. Dragon got to her feet, opened her door and padded down the hallway.

"Atlas? Atlas. Atlas!" She called, voice hoarse with sleep but still sharp with anger. No answer. She pulled open the door to his room, only to find herself standing alone. Empty. The check, gone. Adamaris, gone. Fortunately, Dragon knew where he went. Biting her tongue to keep the livid curses from spewing out like verbal vomit, Dragon fled back to her room, got dressed, and ran down to the garage.

Zi is a world of Zoids. But they don't exclude cars.

Dragon passed the sleek, shiny black figure of Adamaris' baby; the 2010 Chevy Camaro. Part of her wanted to key the shit out of the flawless black skin, but she suppressed the urge and instead got behind the wheel of her Hummer3. Driving the dang thing proved to be a challenge sometimes; the SUV's bulk and power so unlike the grace and finesse of a Zoid. Dragon chuckled lightly at the irony; she could pilot a 40-ton cat with no problem but still struggle with a 2-ton car.

The Hummer slid quietly down the driveway. Dragon punched it into drive and drove off into the night.

---

She hated clubs.

The reeking stank of sweat mingling with the acrid burn of weed, the pungent odor of sex, the stale perfume of alcohol. Even standing outside the doors of _No Black Ties_, Dragon felt like she had contracted every disgusting disease in a matter of seconds. She reeled backward; bumping up against the Hummer's massive frame as a gaggle of intoxicated people bumbled into the club. The bouncer looked to be at least six feet slouching, so Dragon _knew_ going through the front door was dead in the water.

Adamaris had turned his phone off. A Saturday night, and Dragon knew he partied nowhere else. _No Black Ties_ was the Saturday nightclub. It made Dragon sick. Taking a gulp of fresh air, Dragon pushed through sweating, half-naked bodies and marched up to the bouncer.

Dear Ra, he was bigger and even more threatening in person. Dragon felt so tiny and weak, staring up at him with wide eyes. The man glared down at her.

"ID." He snorted, the noise not unlike the sound of a mini volcano erupting.

"I'm just looking for somebody. If I tell you what he looks like, can you go get him?" Dragon squeaked. What a different life she lived now. A few months ago, when Dragon stood tall and strong, _she_ would be bossing this guy around. Now she was doing her best to not get punched in the face. Or raped.

"I'm busy." The man lifted his meaty paw and gestured to the crowd of people waiting to get in.

"Please? Its important." Dragon begged. The bouncer glowered.

"Beat it, kid."

That was a dismissal if Dragon ever heard one. Disappointed, Dragon ducked her head and started on her way to the Hummer. _I'll wait for him._ She thought.

"Oh hey, aren't you Dragon Koradaku?"

No sooner had she heard the words did a hand come out from the line and land on her shoulder. Dragon jumped, startled, her heart starting to beat in a frantic fashion. The hand belonged to a woman, only a few years older then Dragon herself, with long blonde hair and beautiful green eyes. She smiled.

"Didn't mean to scare you, honey," She said. Dragon stared at her. The voice sounded familiar. The woman cleared her throat. "Stacy Lewis. We had a battle earlier, remember?"

Dragon relaxed. Only a bit. She had totaled this pilot's Sword Wolf. Not on purpose, it was a battle after all, but still. "Oh yeah! How's your Sword Wolf?" Dragon asked.

Stacy laughed. She had a pretty laugh, like music. And dang, to call her beautiful would have been an insult. Dragon felt like a bum in comparison. "She's fine. Got her legs all put together," Stacy grinned, and Dragon shuffled awkwardly. "What are you doing here? Aren't you a little young for clubbing?"

"Nineteen," Dragon answered instantly. "I'm looking for my friend, but he's inside. I can't get in." She added, as if that hadn't been obvious enough. Stacy pursed her lips, looking thoughtful.

"Okay Dragon, I can get you in." Stacy said. Before Dragon could argue, her body mashed up against the person in front of her, and she nearly gagged. Stacy's hands fluttered down on her shoulders, gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey Daniel," Stacy basically purred, giving the bouncer a vixen grin. Dragon shuffled to the side, half-hidden by Stacy's form. "Need my ID?"

The bouncer waved her in without a second glance.

It smelled worse inside. How did people deal with this? Dragon wrinkled her nose, lifting her arm to wipe at her tearing eyes with a sweatshirt sleeve. Stacy chuckled, nodded at her posse to go on without her. "You get use to it. Find you friend, then get out. If one of the guys sees you, he'll throw you out."

"Thank you so much, Stacy." Dragon said earnestly. Stacy smiled softly, her face crimson in the red light of the club. A second later, she vanished, lost in the crowd.

Leaving Dragon by herself, feeling sick. The music, Eve, the _music_, crushed her eardrums. Great, pounding beats that rattled her bones, deafened her senses to the point of pain. Dragon swallowed; let the music and the foggy air flood her lungs like ash. She needed to find Adamaris and get out of here. Fast. The bodies around her, sweaty and smelly, rocked against her in tune with the music. The flashing pulses of light blinded her, the ground rose and shifted below her feet. Everything moved, all but Dragon, locked in one place.

A two-floor club. Really. Dragon did not need this. Ground floor first, work your way up, try not to get an STD on the way. Dragon squeezed in between bodies seemingly joined together at the crotch; couples of every shape and size. Women and men, men and men, women and women. Strange, but no different. These were all people. Dragon never judged.

Fifteen minutes in and she found him. Not dancing, not drinking, but stowed away in the corner with a group of people. A pretty brunette leaned into the wall, Adamaris hungrily shoving the wide muscle of his tongue down her throat. The kiss that soon came after, messy and sloppy, left Dragon feeling nauseous. Sickening. Adamaris arched back as the girl gazed at him with predatory eyes, her hand slowly palming between his legs.

Dragon reeled backward, too quickly, too sharp a movement. Her elbow bit into someone's side, and suddenly there was the wet sensation of spilled booze. Dragon squeaked, jerked to the side as the guy she hit glared down at with fierce hatred.

"S-sorry!" Dragon meeped, backing up and away. Her sweatshirt smelled of some fruity cocktail. Up against the wall, Dragon gazed over at Adamaris again. His mouth, parted in such a way that meant he had to be laughing, directed to a man who stood next to him. Friends. Dragon had seen Adamaris' friends before and she couldn't say she liked them. Adamaris looked back at the girl, the laugh gone and now replaced with a sex-driven sneer. Dragon, in all her months of knowing him, never saw Adamaris look like that.

The other guy, shorter then Adamaris but bulkier, with curly black hair, leaned up on his toes. Dragon watched, in some sort of stricken, surprised horror as the man lapped just below Adamaris' ear, his teeth gently skimming the flesh. Adamaris spared the man a glance, then completely blew Dragon's mind when he bent down to kiss the guy right smack on his lips.

Dragon stumbled to the side. The club, the lights, the noise, the overpowering smell, all so much! Dragon shoved through the tight wads of people, pushed them away with her hands and arms, until the exit opened up before her like a shining beacon. The crisp night air- fuck, make that morning, opened for her and embraced her in a cooling embrace.

Dragon inhaled, sucked in great gasps of air until she could breathe again.

---

She waited. For three hours.

At 4:24, Adamaris left the club. Drunk, giddy, his clothes a rumple mess, air spiking up in all directions, sweat glistening on his face. Dragon watched her, face expressionless as he staggered right past her and the parked Hummer. She watched him a little longer, watched him freeze on the sidewalk, then double over to barf up what had to be at least six alcoholic drinks.

At that point, Dragon hopped off the Hummer's roof and strode over to him. Dragon didn't do a lot of hitting –no one at her old Base ever deserved anything more then a playful punch of 5-star, but fighting the urge to do physical harm on Adamaris was almost painful. Almost.

"Fuck is wrong with you?" Dragon hissed, grabbing the back of his shirt and _yanking_ him back toward the Hummer. A few club-goers watched with little interest. "Where's the check?" Dragon snarled, opening the Hummer's door and shoving him inside.

Adamaris grunted as his head landed on the seat. "Whoa ther', kid. Not so loud," He grumbled, laying flat on his belly. "Oh Eve, I'm gonna be sick."

Dragon slammed the door shut and got in the driver's side. "You throw up, you clean it up," She responded bitterly. Her hands, shaking as she held the key, took a few tries before she finally managed to turn it and get the ignition started. Adamaris whined once the sudden jarring of the engine bounced his head up and down on the seat. Dragon ignored him. "You took the check." Her voice, carefully empty and eerily quiet, forebode severe consequences for Adamaris.

"Yeah. Cashed it at the ATM. There's still 8,000 G on it." Adamaris sighed, pillowing his head on his arm.

Dragon almost stopped the car. "The Hell did you spend 2,000 Gallos on?" She yelled. Adamaris winced.

"Talk later, I'm tired. An' sick." He gurgled. Dragon groaned, frantically rolled all the windows down the second she heard the wet splattering making contact with the pristine floor of her shiny Hummer.

---

Adamaris threw up three more times and fell down a total of five times before Dragon could drag him up the apartment stairs and haul him onto his bed. She patted his pockets, but felt no money stashed on him. Her fear grew.

"Atlas, where did you put the money?" She asked, whispering. He groaned, buried his face in his arms.

"Dunno."

Dragon sighed and rolled off the bed. "I'm going to wake you up in four hours. You'll have the worst hangover ever but I don't care because you stole my money." She hissed. Adamaris had already fallen asleep.

Defeated, Dragon slunk back to the garage and cleaned her Hummer of vomit.

---

9:00. Dragon stomped into Adamaris' room and peeked out the window. Flare gazed back at her. Leg fixed and ready, the Blade Liger found his own way home, no problem. Dragon nodded at him once she opened the window.

The Zoid roared a deafening bellow into the room. Dragon flinched at the massive noise. For a second, her heart twanged with pity as Adamaris shrieked, floundered around in the mess of his covers, and promptly fell to the ground in a yelping, confused, hung over mess.

Dragon waved her hand. "Thank you, Flare."

The Liger rumbled and went away.

"Oh Eve, oh eve, my head. My _everything_." Adamaris hiccupped. Dragon shook her head. Part of her really wanted to smack Adamaris around a bit, but she had more pressing matters to attend to. Like where had her money gone, and why the Hell Adamaris decided to just whore himself out like a Zoid with no love.

She walked over and sat on his stomach.

"Ah, geez. Not now, Eve, you are heavy, get off me now please." Adamaris wheezed, pulling the covers from his face. His eyes were red, cheeks flushed, and he stank like the bathroom stalls at the less popular battle stadiums. Dragon raised a brow.

"My money, Adamaris, or I swear to Ra I will castrate you with the bluntest object I can find." Dragon threatened. Adamaris blinked at her with blurry eyes, his lip trembling. Dragon didn't budge. Adamaris gulped, his eyes closed and he crossed his legs.

"I lost it."

It took every ounce of Dragon's self control to not punch his lights out right then and there. Instead, Dragon sighed and covered her face with her hands. "We needed that money, Atlas." She didn't need to remember that she took the entire week off in celebration of her victory.

Adamaris opened his eyes. "I put it in my pocket, then I couldn't find it. I'm sorry Dragon, really I am. I'll take double shifts all month so you won't have to work and I'll-"

Dragon cut him off. "I went to the club. I saw you kissing a girl. And a guy." She said calmly. Adamaris stared at her, jaw dropping slightly in horror. Just as quickly, it snapped shut for a moment before opening again.

"And I bet you watched." He said, voice heavy with lust as he fluttered his eyelashes.

Dragon punched him in the face.

---

Okay so, they were poor. Make that poor-_er_. Dragon pried open her wallet, only to feel her heart sink at the meager amount of coins and crumpled bills stashed within. Maybe she would sell Romeo. Awesome idea, that one. Dragon seriously considered it.

Adamaris, completely unable to not take up any and all space, stretched out on the beaten up couch in the living room. His eyes, red-rimmed and just watery with apology, trailed Dragon as she wandered around the room, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry, Dragon." Adamaris said, for only about the 80th time that morning. And for the 80th time that morning, Dragon ignored him.

"We should sell Romeo." She offered.

Adamaris bolted up- tried too, at least, but only got halfway before he let out a groan and flopped back onto the couch. "Not funny," he squeaked, rolling onto his side to cover his head with his arms. "If you are going to kill me, please do it now and spare me the hangover."

Dragon scoffed. "No way. I like seeing you suffer."

"Sadist."

He looked pathetic, all curled up on the couch with the curtains drawn, knees pulled up to his chest as tiny shivers ran down his body. That gnawing feeling of guilt plagued Dragon's insides; she bit her lip and instantly felt terrible for being so harsh on him.

"A minor flaw," Dragon admitted, striding over to sit on the coffee table. It wheezed under her weight. Dragon glared at it, miffed. No way could she be getting _fatter_. "Anyway, I'll look up the battles tomorrow and see if there's any openings. Maybe I can get Seto into one of the Alpha leagues." Never mind her inexperience piloting the Matrix Dragon.

Adamaris grinned a tiny grin, lifting a hand to place it palm resting on Dragon's knee. "How about you take Wolfgang?" He purred, eyes reduced to mere slits.

Somehow, that sentence made everything better. They could get the money back. Earth may have been gone, but Zi still stood strong. Everything seemed right.

---

Ahhh, cliffhanger, maybe? Who is Wolfgang? A movie about chaos, is that possibly foreshadowing? ADAMARIS A MANWHORE? So many questions. Sorry about the rushed ending but I really wanted to crank this beast out before report cards come out.....in which I will be prolly be booted off the computer for the next forever. Alas~

Review, plz!


	3. That's a lot of 'fuck'

Okay first of all, some things I want to bring up. Dragon and Atlas are poor so….how can they afford a Hummer and a Camaro? Easy! Before Dragon lived with Atlas, she lived in a Base. There she had the Hummer. She brought it with her. Atlas bought the Camaro himself. My reasoning is that cars do exist on Zi, albeit MUCH cheaper. Why have a car when you can own a Zoid, fancy hoverboard, or a Zi-designed car instead of those important from Earth? So yeah….Earth cars are cheap. xD

And a change for Adamaris. His eyes are gray now, not hazel. I'm too lazy to change it in prior chapters but just something I wanted to say.

I'm sorry this chapter is shorter but we get into the real meat of the story, finally. Next chapter will probs be longer so.....yay! I realize this chappy kinda had a darker turn but....this is a dark fic. Woo. Also, if the italics fuck up again I'm sorry for that too~

---

_2 years later_

Dragon spared the soupy brown goo in her bowl one dismissive look of disgust before passing it the ragged, skinny girl sitting in front of her. "Here, you take it." Dragon offered. The bowl didn't even reach half full. One ladle full for everybody. Given that the camp housed well over 300 people, even half full sometimes bled too generous.

The girl, no older then 13, looked up at Dragon with nervous eyes. Dirt spanned her face, her blonde hair burned and greasy. But those eyes, bright blue, dulled with hunger and grief, still edged with the sharp intelligence of a teenager. The girl gave a second-long glance at the bowl. Her eyes flicked back up to Dragon.

"Really. I don't want it." Dragon spat, the words tinged with bitter anger as she stood up, fast and violent. The table rocked from her sudden movement. A pair of guards, dark tinted sunglasses masking their vacant eyes, pistols strapped to their waists, tilted their heads simultaneously at her.

"Watch it." They spoke like robots, totally without human emotion, as if seeing all these starving people, homeless and scared and sick, took no toll on their minds and bodies. Dragon's lip curled and her nails dug into the flesh of her palm, but she couldn't fight. Fighting lead to instant extermination. Dragon watched it once, watched a pale fellow with long brown hair get walked to the barren fields. A pistol against the back of his skull. The forever ringing of that one, single bullet.

Nobody cried anymore. All the faces looked the same; dirty, sad, and tired. The fight raged on in only a few daring souls idiotic enough to make a break for freedom, the broken world outside the rusty barbed fence. They were killed. Swiftly, shot down like pests. Dragon left the crowded food hall and roamed the lifeless grounds, staring at her feet to watch the puffs of dust rise with each step. Two years, two long years, and she remembered every single fucking second of that horrible day.

Earthquakes. It started with earthquakes. Adamaris holding her face with both hands, eyes wide, _we need to get out of here._ The raced stumbling, falling, as the planet twisted and groaned beneath them, building falling, toppling and cracking, the scream of metal as it all cracked like bone. Worse still, the nuclear explosions, the poison gas. Zoids going insane, rampaging, blowing up and leaking toxic fluid in the water. Riots. People screaming, smashing glass, throwing bombs and starting fires.

Zi went to shit. Running with Adamaris, holding hands, watching Flare and Seto, Romeo and Wolfgang stand there, optics blank as debris and the sky itself broken over their shoulders. The military pulling them apart, taking them away, the fences and the wire and the thick, stuff air, like water that choked in the throat. A slow death, a death by breathing.

"Hey."

A voice, blank and bored, pulled Dragon from the depths of her thoughts. Before her stood a man, grizzled and exhausted, holding a forbidden cigarette between his lips. Dragon stared in wonder, speculating how he acquired such a thing. "Hey." She answered, cautious. The fence raised high in front of them, a great monster with endless teeth and ferocity.

The man inhaled, walking forward to peer through the slotted holes. "I heard there's gonna be a bust tonight. Some fighters tryin' to break outta this fucking shithole." The man took out the cig, leaned over, and spat a hideous glob of mucus onto the ground. Dragon shuddered. She didn't consider herself one of the fighters, the freedom-drunk crazies who constantly tried to break from the camp. At least here they had edible food, drinkable water, and a corner to sleep. Out there, lurked danger and nothingness.

"They'll die." Dragon pointed out. The man laughed, harsh and painful sounding.

"They stole a Zoid, darling. Saw it myself. Big ol' Bear Fighter, all set and ready."

Dragon stopped hearing him after 'Zoid'. The only workable Zoids in the camp belonged strictly to Raphael, leader and over-serer/dictator bastard. Even then, the Zoids were nothing more then a few mangy Command Wolves and one single Raynos. The only Zoids unaffected by the outburst of Rare-Hertz Pulse were those small enough to be saved. Larger Zoids lost their minds.

The man patted Dragon's shoulder and gave her a yellow-toothed grin. "9:00, darling. I'd love to see ya there." He winked, dropped the cancer stick to the ground, and walked away, whistling a far-too joyous tune.

---

Dragon pulled down her blanket, a nasty thing chewed apart by rats, and peered at the one single clock with the cracked glass face. 8:50. Dragon sighed and rubbed her face. All around her, people slept and coughed, died and struggled to live. She blessed her young, vital body every night, and prayed it would keep up the good work. 8:51. Dragon worried the torn blanket with her fingers. This could be her try for freedom, for escape. The cracked world out there, so destroyed and dead, maybe had new life breathed into it over the last 2 years. She didn't know, this had been her home for the last 2 years. Maybe people were rebuilding, starting new lives, finding food and water. 8:52.

Or maybe she would be shot down before she even touched the fence.

Dragon threw off the blanket, instantly feeling the attack of cold biting her skin through flimsy clothes. A shiver ran from the tip of her head all the way down to her toes; she merely shook the feeling off and quietly padded toward the door, stepping over fitfully sleeping bodies on her way. Guards never slept, and Dragon hoped to Eve and Ra that the guys decided to take a break or something. Get a snack, take a piss, anything. She needed a few precious seconds, just enough to creep down the hallway and out the door.

Carefully, she peered into the dark depths of the hallway, the maw of a canyon, like the Valley back on Nyx. Limitless, endless, hungry and ready to gobble her up. Dragon gulped, saw no guards, pushed the rest of her body out and gently tiptoed toward the Hanger.

---

"Hey, you made it!"

The same man clapped a burly hand on Dragon's back, temporarily knocking the air right out of her lungs. She coughed once before fixing him with a small smile. "I want to get out of here." Came the admitted reply. The man nodded in complete understanding.

"Yeah, you and 12 other fighters. You know who the killers are, kid?" Hand still on her back, the man guided Dragon across the wide floor of the Hanger. The Command Wolves stared back at them with blank, empty cockpits, their hides heavy with extra weaponry. Dragon nodded. She had an idea of who the killers were.

"The people outside the fence?"

The man grinned, his brown eyes lighting up. "Exactly. Bloody disgusting bunch of cannibals, they are. But I'd rather take a chance with them then stay in this puke," His other hand rubbed thoughtfully at the golden stubble on his chin. "I'll see if there's a shank or a pistol around for you."

Dragon looked ahead. "Mine name's Dragon." She blurted, random and rushed. The man grinned.

"Guy. Nice to meet you, Dragon."

Didn't sound like a legit name, but whatever, since Dragon wasn't exactly commonplace either. Ahead of her, towering high toward the ceiling, a brown Bear Fighter stood ready. Men and women calmly walked around it, checking weapons, the armor, the sharpness of the claws and teeth. Guy's face broke into a smile upon seeing the Zoid.

"Got enough firepower to level at least 3 Wolves. Raynos might be tricky, but we had time to fuck up one of the engines." Guy nodded at the Raynos.

Dragon ran a hand over one of the Bear Fighter's silver nails, loving the familiar feel of cool metal. "How long until we run?" She asked, but Guy had vanished. Dragon blinked, suddenly feeling very awkward.

"You a friend of Guy?"

A girl not much older then Dragon strode over. Her face, lined with scars and pale, held two intense icy blue eyes and a small, hard line of a mouth. Dragon froze. "Y-Yeah." She stammered. The tiniest smile broke out on the girl's face.

"Sophia. You coming with us?"

Everyone seemed to have a lot of questions. Dragon nodded. "I guess I am. I'm Dragon."

Sophia nodded. Just then, Guy came back, sporting a wicked looking knife with a silver blade. "Sophia!" He exclaimed, giving her a peck on the cheek. To Dragon he added, "Here ya go, all set and ready."

Dragon took the knife, feeling the weight and power of it transfer into her body. "Thank-"

An alarm blared. A shrill, wailing, screaming, harsh cry that assaulted Dragon's ear with all the ferocity of a Gunblaster's assault. Guy cursed, yelled orders to the people scrambling about, getting ready. Dragon's blood ran cold; she clutched the knife like a lifeline, her feet unwilling to move despite her legs turning to jelly.

Sophia grabbed her arm. "We're taking a Wolf, Dragon. Guy, c'mon!"

Dragon let herself be pulled, and watched as guards poured out of entrances, holding guns and knives and slingshots, clubs and bats. The sight of weapons jumpstarted her legs, and ran instead of being dead weight. Guy called a good luck to the others, who had piled into the Bear Fighter's modified two cockpits. The Zoid rumbled and shook, growled and snapped as it roared to life.

The Command Wolf, midnight blue with extra long teeth, opened the cockpit at Sophia's order. Dragon leaped and flailed her way into the backseat, Sophia tumbled on top of her as Guy took the controls. "Move, move!" He bellowed over the comm-link as the Wolf raised to its full height.

Bright lights of explosions burned Dragon's eyes. After so long of nothing but candle light, sunlight, and pathetically weak electricity, the Bear Fighter's beam cannons were equivalent to staring at the sun itself for a good 15 seconds. Dragon blinked the watery tears from her eyes just in time to get bounced around the cockpit as the Command Wolf galloped for the Zoid-sized hole in the wall.

Guy definitely squashed a few guards. But seeing his look of determination, Dragon doubted he cared at all. Sophia shifted above her, blinding Dragon for a moment with her long blonde hair. "Sorry, hun." She apologized, and the two shifted and moved until they were sitting somewhat comfortably.

"Hold on tight, kids." Guy laughed. The Command Wolf roared, and several more answered its call. Behind them, four more Wolves raced from the Hanger, beam cannons unloading all Hell for them. Dragon clutched the seat and ducked her head, wishing so hard that Flare or Seto were still with her, protecting her.

A wave of missiles flew from the Bear Fighter ahead of them. Dragon heard the tortured squeal and resulting ground-shaking thud of a Command Wolf getting hit and detonating behind them. Guy let out a hoot of victory. "Chipper! Nice shot!" He laughed.

"Thank you, sir!" Chipper's face appear over the comm-link, a young guy with a brave smirk and a cut on his forehead. "That's only three left!"

The fence came into view, measly barbs and steel no match for tons and tons of Zoid weight and strength. Dragon lifted her head, butterflies in her stomach as the thought hit her; they were going to make it. They were going to live. They would get out of here, survive in the world, rebuilt it. The surviving moon of Zi and millions of stars lit up the sky above them, and Dragon had never felt so happy in the last two years….

A bolt of electricity flew out of nowhere, hit the Bear Fighter's side. The Zoid screeched, the blast blowing apart armor and weapons. The leftover missiles exploded and the Zoid burned in the resulting massive fireball. Guy hit the brakes, the Wolf sliding to a stop as the Bear Zoid crumpled and melted with all those people trapped in the cockpits.

"_What the fuck!?"_

The air shimmered, and suddenly, standing there all black and blue with the light of millions watching from above, came the Liger Zero X. Slowly, gracefully, almost bored, the pristine feline strutted toward the Command Wolf. Guy swore the longest string of curses, his eyes wide and sweat pouring down his face. "Fuck. I didn't know they had a Liger Zero. Fuck. Fuck." The three Command Wolves formed a half-circle behind them, and all that hope instantly left Dragon's system.

So they were going to die.

"Hey, hey listen to me," Guy whispered, frantic. The Liger, electricity crackling through the blades, continued its advance, metal teeth bared in a snarl. "I want you two to run, okay? I'm gonna blow the fence apart, open the cockpit, and you two just run and don't stop?"

Sophia shook her head "No, Guy-"

He cut her off. "Damnit, Sophia. They can follow the Wolf but not you two."

"Surrender immediately." A voice broadcasted from the Liger Zero X. Inhuman, almost bored, like all the guards. Dragon shivered, wished Seto were here more then ever. Seto could handle a Liger Zero X.

"Right now. I'm going to do it. You two stick together, okay? I mean it. Don't die on me." Guy looked over his shoulder, and Dragon saw the tears in his eyes. She bit her lip. She liked nothing about this. All the killing, the death, she hated it. Instead of watching others, now she found herself in the middle of it all. All for the hope of freedom, living, surviving.

She gently squeezed Guy's hand. "Thank you. For everything." She whispered sincerely, voice cracking. Sophia pressed a kiss to his cheek before grabbing Dragon's wrist and bracing herself against the Wolf's orange glass canopy.

The back cannons swiveled in an instant. The black blew the fence to shreds. The next moments were merely a blur. Falling onto the cold ground. Running. Screaming. The Command Wolf exploding behind them, fizzling with electricity, frying with all that power. Crying. Bullets flying. Sophia dropping. Her leg. Guards coming, closer, faster. Run. Won't leave you. Run. More bullets. Run. Not without you. We need to stick together. Run. _Run._

She ran.

---

The Command Wolves nor the Liger Zero X followed her. This, this no man's land, full of killers and cannibals and rapists, unsafe. Surreal, all of it. Dragon shoved her hands in her pockets, trying to fight off the cold and failing miserably. What continent? Not her home of Nyx, this is Europa. The camp in Red River Base. Dragon stumbled down rocks and walked around poisonous trickling streams. Alone, nobody here but killers and cannibals and rapists.

Dragon closer her eyes and tried to think. Dragonhead Base called that same valley its home, but she knew that housed a camp as well. _Darien!_ Dragon thought after a moment. She could go there. She heard stories about people living there. Anywhere better then here, all alone with no one but killers for company. A cold wind ruffled around her, and Dragon wiped the tears from her face and started walking along the quiet stream that had once been a mighty river. She had a long way to go.

---

Hm? R&R? Zi is complicated since there's 500 DIFF. SERIES so I'm keeping the basic continents but creating new cities and towns and whatnot. Yeah, valley of the rare hertz and europa desert are still there and so are all the regular places, but I'm adding s'more. Hooray. And yus, ending is cliche BUT I TRIED OKAY? PLEASE TAKE THESE CAPS AS MY VERY SINCERE APOLOGY. D:


	4. A box titled Lost and Found

Whee, chappie 4! I liked this chapter a whole lots. So c'mon, I know people out there read this! Comment, I don't bite! :D But anyway, we get deeper into the plot this chapter, and some things seem kinda hazy because there are a lot of details and I keep forgetting what I wrote. Troublesome, should take better notes. But enjoy!

I hope I didn't use 'was' at all. I'm trying to write in E Prime and writing without 'was' is kind of a bitch xD

---

Dragon had never walked so much in her entire life. Normally, in the Past, she could take a Zoid, a car, any sort of mobile transportation and be at her destination in less then 10 minutes. Even traversing between continents would have barely taken 45 minutes. Dragon cursed the end of the world, her stupid legs, her stupid ideas, the guards, that stupid Liger Zero X, and everything else.

But at least Guy and Sophia, Chipper and everyone else were in a place where they couldn't hurt anymore. Dragon almost wished she could join them. Well, she could. A wrong step, a bad move, and she would fall, weightless and free, to her death.

No. Dragon shook her head hard, hearing bones crack. She had to keep moving, had to live, go to Darien and-

Movement. Dragon stopped, one foot still in the air as something shifted along the high rock walls. Everything painted the same dusty brown/gray, and her eyes failed to pick anything out. A rumbled cascaded around her, and the ground shook beneath her feet. Dragon flailed backwards, arms pin wheeling as a yelp fled from her mouth. With all the finesse of a one-legged Dark Horn, Dragon flumped behind a rock. She wrapped her arms around the stone and clung for dear life as Zi split and broke around her once again.

A Rev Raptor came bounding down from the high ridges above. The little raptor nearly tripped on a protruding rock, but managed to catch himself and continue running. Dragon stared in awe, mouth dangling open a little as the Zoid hit the ground easy, head darting around in frantic, frightened movements. Dragon didn't know how long she had been walking, but it had to have been at least an hour if Zoids were hopping about. The Raptor hunkered down close to the ground and spun on a talon, hissing up at the direction it had come from.

Dragon watched in interest.

Suddenly a Lightning Saix, all black and sleek, exploded out of nowhere. It ran down the slope with ridiculous ease. The Raptor squalled, readied his massive talons, but to no avail. The Saix pounced, caught the beast's neck in its teeth, and ripped. The entire Rev Raptor head popped off as the body slumped forward. The Saix dropped the head and lashed its tail in victory.

From up on the ridge, another Saix peeked over the edge. Dragon sunk further behind the rock as the feline Zoid closer to her picked up the Raptor corpse in its jaws and trekked back up the slope. She wondered if they were piloted, died a little inside if they were since she just let them _go_ like that. But they could have been killers. Dragon waited until the thuds of the big cats vanished and everything went quiet before heading back on her way.

---

Her stomach rumbled, angry and exhausted and _starving_ beyond all comprehension. Dragon sighed and scratched her belly, which emitted another ravenous snarl. No plants around her, no growing berries or even a Ra-damned weed. Dragon sneered, her blood bubbling in her veins as raw anger suddenly took over her body. A scream tore from her dry and parched throat, her foot lashing out to kick a rock with all the force she could muster.

The second she kicked the rock, a roar echoed out the valley. Dragon froze for a second, her mind going back to the Lightning Saix- no, this voice sounded deeper, more powerful. Fast-paced foot thuds raced against the walls. Dragon crouched behind another boulder, tucking herself against it and the wall. She waited.

A Dibison came careening from a turn. The Zoid, covered in debris and leaking some foul black liquid, charged full speed ahead, a gimp in its gait. Dragon's body rocked and vibrated from the heavy thuds of the titan's hooves.

"You crazy fuckers! Leave me alone!"

Dragon jerked, nearly standing upright but thankfully remembering that she didn't know if these people were friend or foe. The Dibison spun around, facing the way it came. The Zoid snorted, red optics cracked but blazing with fury and hatred. "I'll blast you fucks to Hell if you take another step!" The guy's voice cracked; scared, but unwilling to show it. Dragon felt bad, but leaned forward to see what he yelled at. So far, she saw nothing.

Almost too fast for Dragon to see, a lithe white shape pounced out of the same turn the Dibison had come from. She recognized the Zoid instantly, despite the intricate marking painted onto the armor, the added Gatling adorning the space between Beam Cannons. Brave Jaguar, a dwarf compared to the bull Zoid but still deadly. The feline hissed, crouched low and stalked closer. The feline looked scary, but surely it provided no match for the amount of weaponry the Dibison possessed. Dragon thought feverishly. Unless….

Sure enough, another Brave Jaguar lazily walked out, closely following its brethren. Dragon gripped the rough stone under her fingers. She sensed a fight.

"This is Shark territory, man! Sorry to say that you be trespassing!" The pilot of the closest Jaguar yelled. His voice held a definite accent to it, and slang in his words. Dragon peeked out from the rock, interested winning over the voice in her head screaming: _Hide! Hide!_

The Dibison grumbled and shuffled backwards. The back leg bore various bite wounds, the entire hide riddled with bullet holes as a horn hung uselessly, connected be a mere sheet of metal. "I'm just passing through! I'm not taking anything!" The pilot pleaded, desperation lacing his words.

"Lying bitch! We didn't chase you all the way here for a reason," The other Jaguar's pilot chimed in. The markings on its body were similar, but still unique to that of its friend. "You steal from sharks, you die from sharks." Dragon winced at the laughter, the mockery in his tone. She knew what came next.

The Brave Jaguar roared and launched forward, golden nails extended. The second Jaguar followed suit, tiny white teeth bared in an ominous smile. Dragon didn't like the odds, but she silently cheered the Dibison on.

With a mighty, thunderous _moooooooo! _The larger Zoid angled the back cannons, letting every single one of them heat up with beautiful yellow energy. A second later, and the following bombardment of beams assaulted the Brave Jaguar midair. The cat screeched, midsection blowing apart, armor flying everywhere, to land in a melted heap on the ground. The Zoid struggled to get back to its paws, but the Dibison bellowed and leaped, slamming both front hooves into the body, driving them deep and smashing through into the Core.

The second Jaguar skidded to a stop, hissing loudly through parted fangs. "Hacker! Hold on buddy I got ya!" The pilot promised, his Zoid running for his fallen friend.

However, Dibison and his pilot had other ideas. Rumbling a beastly noise, those same cannons lowered and lit up with that intense, powerful yellow light. The Jaguar yelped, scuttled backward and leaped, narrowly missing the barrage of his beams. The Dibison, unimpressed, grunted once before lifting a stubby leg and slamming it through the disabled Jaguar's cockpit. Dragon jumped, shocked by the downright murder she just witnessed.

"Not so cocky now are you, freak?" Feeling much more confident, the Dibison trudged toward the lone Jaguar. The tables had turned, and now the feline looked frantically for an easy escape.

"H-Hey man, you stole, you gotta pay," Fear definitely emitted from the Jaguar's comm-link. "But you killed him! You k-killed Hacker!" The Zoid whined and glanced at the remains of his friend.

Dragon stood up. The voice in her head screamed, full blast, _Are you insane! Get down! GET DOWN!_ But she ignored it. Instead, she bent low and picked up a good size rock, big but not too heavy to throw. She prayed this would all work out and she wouldn't end up as road kill on the hoof of a Dibison.

With all her tired and weak, hunger-stricken might, Dragon threw the rock as hard as she humanly could. It flew through the air, as graceful as a rock could be, to ping off the bison's armor. As effective as a Helcat sneezing on a Gil Vader. "_HEY!" _Dragon screamed, cupping her hands to her mouth to increase her volume.

Excellent. The Dibison turned to look at her, all frenzied anger. One hoof pawed the ground, ready for a charge.

"Uh." Dragon realized how stupid she looked, totally unarmed save for a stupid knife, staring down the 20 gun barrels of a Dibison. Not her best decision, not her best.

Yowling, the Brave Jaguar opened fire. Every cannon, even the added Gatling, spat dozens of bullets and beams at the Dibison. Jolted out of its moment of stupor, the Zoid _mooooooo_!'ed and stumbled backwards, the armor getting eaten alive before it finally managed to turn tail and run away, despite the deadly wounds and holes littering its body.

"Yeah and don't ya ever come back, fucker! Yer lucky I didn't kill ya!" The Jaguar pilot shrieked after him. Still standing there like a complete and utter idiot, Dragon frowned at the snap in the guy's voice as his sentence died down. Well no duh, his friend just got murdered in plain sight. The Jaguar's head lowered, canopy flipping open with a pressurized hiss. Dragon lifted her head higher to watch the guy skitter from his Zoid to gape in awe at the wreckage.

"Oh man. Oh man," He whispered. "I gotta tell Grimm." Dragon, easily able to pick out the guy's obvious distress but still wary of the whole thing, stood uncertain in her spot. The guy looked young enough, maybe around her age, with short spiky black hair and the sort of thin, wiry build she always associated with eating disorders.

_Well duh. Out here I don't think you can get much food._

Okay, she officially lost her mind. Dragon rubbed her temple, wondering just when the Heck she acquired a voice in her head. Whatever. She creeped closer. "Um, hey." She called out.

In a span of half a second, the guy whirled around, pulling a gun from his pocket and pointing it right smack between Dragon's eyes. Dragon almost screamed and jumped, but managed to hold herself together as the kid slowly advanced. The distraught in his face, so clearly evident in those hazy green eyes, failed to mask the sneer on his lips. Dragon raised her arms level with her head. "I come in peace?"

The gun cocked. "Who the Hell are you?" He demanded. Dragon opened her mouth, closed it a second later. Her eyes drifted up and down, noting the clothes, so unlike her own. For one, they were _nice._ Black cargo pants with silver patterns, a matching shirt and no holes whatsoever anywhere. Black boots, fingerless gloves, his entire left ear adorned with various earrings. But most of all, the very noticeably tattoo of a vicious shark inked into the skin on his right shoulder.

"Dragon." owner of said name croaked out. The boy scoffed.

"Not your name, fucktard. Who are you, where did you come from?"

Dragon had been called a series of unhappy names in the Past, but _fucktard _surely took the take. Thank Ra that kid had a gun; it happened to the only thing protecting his nuts right now. Dragon voiced her displeasure in being called such a name by blowing air up at her bangs, letting the colored tips fly from her face.

"I'm just passing through. I'm not stealing, not killing, not-"

The kid stomped toward her and grabbed her arm, lifting the gun and pressing the cool metal to her neck. Dragon promptly forgot whatever she had been saying. Face pressed close to hers, the guy glared with fierce anger, but maybe some fear. Dragon could see his canines, evenly filed down to sharp points. Cannibal teeth, perfect for ripping flesh from bone. "Well Miss, yer gonna be coming with me." He said, voice sounding a whole lot like a purr. Dragon bit back a retort. The gun barrel burned her skin as she allowed herself to be shoved into the Brave Jaguar's cockpit.

---

Only when you were about to die, Dragon realized, do you remember the weirdest things. A spaceship in the sky. Crashing. Zoids everywhere. A white Blade Liger, a black Base. People, friends. Death. Things dying. People dying. Going away. Dragon rested her head on the Jaguar's canopy glass. Meeting Adamaris, handing him the flier, seeing that silly grin, followed a huge, heartwarming hug. Dragon chuckled softly.

"Shut up."

Dragon rolled her eyes. She learned that her kidnapper also had a name; Calyx. It didn't quite roll off the tongue, but Dragon felt reminded of Nyx whenever she said his name. Which didn't happen very often, seeing as he held no interest at all in holding a conversation.

So she tried again. "Uhm…" Came the seriously pathetic start. Calyx wasted no time in answering.

"Fuck, I am serious. Shut the hell up or I _will_ blow yer fucking head off," Calyx hissed. "Did you not see what happened back there? My friend died."

'I saw, and I'm sorry but-"

"Open yer mouth again, and you'll be sorri_er_." Calyx threatened. Dragon kept her mouth shut.

---

After living in a camp for two years, Dragon forgot how grand a city could look. Even if said city had been destroyed, demolished, the brittle skeletons of once mighty skyscrapers reaching toward the sky like grasping hands. The hollow shells of buildings, the empty bodies of cars ad cracks in the ground that went on for days proved too much for Dragon to take in all at once. She pressed her face up against the glass, mouth agape as they entered the city. At the entrance stood the dead carcass of the most powerful Zoid in Zi; a Gil Vader. Stuck in its claws it held a sign all silver and black lettering; SHARKCITY.

The Brave Jaguar pressed on.

_No Zoids._ Dragon thought after a moment. The silence around them breathed heavy on her neck, only the Jaguar's soft rumbling and footfalls broke the stifling quiet. Dragon looked at her hands. They were shaking.

The feline walked on for a few more minutes before coming to a stop outside a huge, grand tower. Dragon stretched her neck way back to see the top. The tower reeked of foreboding, power, royalty. Black in color, with the same silver designs carved into the steel body. Impossibly tall, imposing, a tremendous monolith that looked ready to devour the puny wreckage beside it. It looked almost like a castle, but no. Definitely a tower.

"Okay, Dragon, right? Listen, I don't care who you are or how you got to wandering Red River Valley, but this here tower belongs to Grimm. He's the Leader here and if you do _anything_ to piss him off, I will have to kill you."

Dragon pried her eyes from the tower to stare blankly at Calyx. Damn, those eyes were such a nice green…."What?" She squeaked, eyes going wide. Calyx shrugged helplessly.

"Consider yourself lucky I didn't kill you back in the Valley. Now get out." He ordered, the Jaguar's head lowering to the ground. Dragon nodded, trying hard not to vomit as she stumbled across the metal and down onto the dusty street. The silence suffocated her.

"Where is everybody?" She questioned, Calyx thudding beside her.

"Its hot." He answered simply. Dragon didn't consider that a very good answer, but Calyx already grabbed her arm and starting pulling her toward the tower's high grandiose doors. Not even bothering to fight, Dragon glanced over her shoulder, saw the wisp of a hundred shadows on the ground before the tower's doors opened and closed around the.

---

She couldn't explain the beauty. The tower, so beautiful inside, lit up with small flickering candles –Calyx told her they had no electricity- and pictures of people on some corners of the walls. Mirrors, tables, even a few potted plants and wondrous pictures of artwork. The air smelled like vanilla. Everything seemed so peaceful, so quiet. Definitely gothic in style, the tower scared Dragon, but somehow made her feel safe. Together, she and Calyx walked, their feet impossibly loud in the quiet. Dragon felt his grip shaking.

"Are you okay?"

Calyx glared at her. In the flickering candlelight, his green eyes seemed murky, but still intense, sharp. "No. Hacker got killed because of me. Fuckin' stupid…." The last part came in a murmur, his other hand reaching up to feverishly rub at his forehead. Dragon instinctively knew he hadn't been talking to her.

"Okay, lets say I _don't_ get killed. Then what?" Dragon piped, curious because hey, she didn't want to die or get kicked back out into the boiling sun with all the killers and-

She stopped. Wait. Could _these_ people be the killers talked about in the camp? Dragon stopped walking, suddenly very aware that Calyx's lean muscles and pistol were used for more then just taking hostages. Her brain conjured the fleeting image of a group of people, dirty and hairy, feasting on the bloody bits and pieces of some hapless traveler. She thought of Calyx doing that, leveling his gun to the skull of a lost soul, pulling the trigger, sending brain matter and bone fragments into the hands of his hungry followers….

Dragon's mind shut down, paralyzed by fear. Her free hand tore the knife from her pocket and in one swift, deadly movement; she brought it down on Calyx's wrist. The sharp blade sliced through the leather gloves, into the skin, the veins, stopping at bone but Dragon didn't care, she whipped the blade out so fast she winced at the sucking sound it made.

Calyx screeched, his eyes wide, startled, other hand grabbing his bloody wrist as Dragon spun around, frantic for the exit to get out of here. _Take the Jaguar._ She thought. Good plan; her shoes thudded across the floor as she ran. She would make it, the door, right up ahead, she already felt the heat and sun and-

Something rammed into her. Dragon stumbled, fell, slid across the sleek floor, made of some shiny, clean material. She struggled to get to her feet, only to feel the damp darkness of a bag being shoved over her head. Everything went into a panicked, hushed blackness.

---

"She attacked Calyx, sir."

"Sliced his wrist right open, she did. He's a dumb kid, didn't even check her for weapons!"

Dragon didn't know where the two men lea her. She only knew her knife had been taken away and Calyx bled so bad he needed to visit the city's hospital. Dragon's mind swam at the idea of a real _hospital._ At camp, the hospital didn't exist. You got sick, you got taken out back and shot.

Suddenly, the bag lifted over her head. Dragon gasped, feeling lovely and sweet air fill her lungs. After three blissful lungfuls of air, Dragon looked at her new surroundings, hoping to see something that would make sense.

The men holding her were not kids like Calyx. Full-grown men, both tall and muscled, both sporting the same wavy, shoulder-length light brown hair and equally brown eyes. The clothes they wore were just as nice as Calyx's; smooth black pants, heavy boots, but only with black wifebeaters instead of normal tees. Both ears were heavy with earrings, various silver spheres and diamonds that shone even in candlelight.

"Easy, little bird. Nowhere for you to go," The man on her left chuckled. Dragon recoiled in disgust. What a sleaze. "Take a gander, though, go on." He added.

Dragon didn't need permission. This must have been the top floor of the tower, for it easily looked the grandest, the most amazing. Candles everywhere, hanging from several shimmering glass chandeliers dropping from the ceiling. Candles in the open mouths of scary, gargoyle statues in the shape of Genosaurer heads. Candles leading up to the impressive, spikey chair that sat dead-center, right in front of a long tinted window. Dragon felt the sickness of vertigo creep up. She looked at her feet; saw plush, dark blue carpet instead of floor. She longed to just curl up on it and sleep, sleep forever.

Movement. Dragon jerked. There were more people in the room, their faces covered in shadow. But she could see them; the black clothes, and other colors; variety of purple and blue, green and red, even gray and white. Every person's ear or ears held earrings, and Dragon barely made out the black-inked tribal tattoo of a shark, some on arms, others on legs, even on faces or necks or fingers. Dragon shuddered.

A voice rang out. "All hail, here comes Leader!"

A hush silenced the people. All went quiet as six forms lined up against the wall, eyes fixed straight ahead. Dragon's captors fell to one knee each, taking Dragon with them. She yelped, both knees hitting the carpet at once. Her eyes stayed glued to the blue plush, heartbeat embarrassingly loud in the silence.

A door cracked open, slow, dramatically. Dragon heard boots. She peeked up. Walking slowly and gracefully into the room, a man who easily topped 7'0 (to her, down on the ground) sauntered into view. All black clothes, like so many others only this guy just screamed _Royalty_. His black dress pants had the most silver designs, woven such a way that they looked like claws and bat wings. His boots were huge, deep black, reaching mid-calf and studded with sharp spikes. The black shirt, tight and decorated with the tribal shark tattoo, lost all luster compared to the sweeping Dracula style cape (Dracula, a vampire, right? Dragon had a hard time thinking) he wore, complete with high collar and blood red inside fabric. It swept all the way to his heels, swished when he walked. His hair, shaven close to his head, a boring bland shade of brown, easily made up for by the tall, high-standing midnight blue Mohawk that spiked up from his skull. The man turned to look at her. A gaunt face, thin and deeply-tanned, with a hard mouth and the blackest set of eyes Dragon had ever seen. Necklaces dangled from his neck, chains from his pants, along with a sheathed knife. The entire right side of his face bore the same tribal shark she had seen so many times; a grinning, toothy beast, all silver save for one beady black eyes.

If looks could kill, Dragon had already died. She resorted to making a mental will when lighter, rushed footsteps hurried in the Leader's wake.

Not too thin, not that all, eyes obscured by a shag of black hair with a single icy blue streak. The gauges and the bar, the shark tattoo hidden under the shirt, that _smile_ and those loving, warm hugs. Dragon felt her blood run from her body, her brain pack up its things and leave. The people here were crazy, insane, not right in the head. Dragon tried to open her mouth to scream, shout bloody murder, but the silence infected her vocal cords and she could only watch, watch from her pray on the floor as he walked after the Leader, eyes fixed on him and him only.

Maybe ESP could be blamed, or Ra really does exist, or maybe he wanted to see who the prisoner happened to be. He looked at her, slowly at first, those steel eyes focused right of her. Dragon stared back, pleaded_, remember who I am_.

"Get away from her! Leave her alone!" The snarl from his lips, so animalistic, shocked the two men into stepping back. Dragon rushed to her feet, ran, her limbs frozen but somehow still working, heart hammering, a warm feeling rushing over her as she slammed full speed into Adamaris' chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into the soft blue fabric of his shirt.

Dragon usually put up such a wall but right now, she didn't _care_. Sobs, real wracking cries, tore from her throat, two years worth of tears being held in. She clutched his shirt like a lifeline, because that's exactly what she thought of it, she held on with no intention of letting go. Adamaris ducked his head, and Dragon felt his hands scan against the width of her back, keeping her close, safe.

"Shhh. I have you, you're alright. Its alright Dragon, I'm here. I'm right here." Adamaris whispered, letting his voice flow over Dragon like a shield, a protective force field that nothing could penetrate. She quieted, tear ducts running dry, but she refused to give Adamaris up, refused to let go or look away, even when she felt him move.

"Grimm. I know this one. She is mine." The authority carried in his voice surprised Dragon, but that feeling vanished the second Adamaris started to turn, as if he wanted to go away and _no, _Dragon had no intention of letting that happening so she clung even harder, squeezed her eyes shut and willed Adamaris to understand _how much she needed him._

A chuckle in her ear. "Relax, beautiful girl. I'm just turning around a bit, I'm right here, I won't let you go." Adamaris promised, and Dragon nodded against his chest because of course he understood.

The Leader, Grimm, said something Dragon didn't bother to hear. Right now, all she wanted manifested into sleep. She felt it, the dreamy weariness of being on her feet for so long, all the tumbled emotions jumbling into one. Dragon sighed, listened to Adamaris' heartbeat. Then Dragon did hear something Grimm said.

"This girl belongs to Atlas. None may touch her, or they face death. Understand!?" The voice, hard and rough and _scary_, earned a chorus of "Yes sir!" from the group of people.

"Leave!"

Dragon listened to the scuttle of people running. Silence. Adamaris rocked back and forth, lifted a hand to stroke down Dragon's hair and she felt so happy, so happy to be here.

Footsteps.

"I don't know what she means to you, Atlas, but you damn well owe for this." Grimm hissed, and Dragon tensed all over, no way would she let this puke talk that way to Adamaris, she would fight him herself, rip that tattoo right from his fa-

Adamaris ruined her evil plotting. "I'm truly sorry sir, I'll explain everything but please, may I tend to her? She's dehydrated, and probably hungry."

Grimm said something else. Then he left, but Dragon did nothing. She wanted to sleep. Adamaris lifted his hands and went to move away again, this time to go somewhere, but Dragon couldn't let that happen. She hugged him closer, felt the air leave his lungs in a _huffff _from the tightness.

"Dragon. hey, Dragon, I'm not going anyway, I'm going to stay right with you, I mean it, but can I have my body back? Please?" Adamaris laughed, rubbing Dragon's shoulders. Dragon sighed, and finally pried herself loose.

Adamaris smiled down at her. "Hey, roomie." He said, playful, as Dragon stared at him, mouth open, at his childish attitude. She kind of wanted to hit him, but not really, because he's _here._

"You.." Dragon started, but he cut her off.

"I'll explain everything. Right now, let's get you water, food, and sleep. Then we can talk all day and all night about everything." He said, extending a hand for Dragon to take. Dragon looked at that hand. A lifeline, a floating ring in a sea of despair, the hand that offered her a place to live, the hand that caressed her shoulders when she lost a battle, got fired from a job. And now of all places, two years later in some depressing, chaotic, Hellish Apocalyptic world, that same hand reached for her, offering all those same things.

Dragon took his hand, saw the glittery green nail polish, a few red cuts. Adamaris beamed and pulled her close, giving all the support and comfort Dragon needed after so long without.

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Lalalala OMG ADAMARIS! Didn't see that coming, right? Lulz. review plz!


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